I recently completed a 6 week at home workout and now I’m on to another one. I’m a little surprised by my consistency, because I haven’t really been so consistent with my workouts in the past.
Working out everyday has really helped me to get back into shape, feel better about myself and start my day off on the right foot. Sticking to a workout routine is not always easy, especially if you feel like you’re doing it at home alone. Here are 10 ways that have helped me to stay motivated and to show up everyday.
1. Identify Why You Want to Workout. When you have a goal to do something it’s important to understand why you want to do it. If you’re not clear on why you are doing something, it may be hard to commit to the goal. My goal this time was that I was getting married soon and I wanted to fit into my dress. I know, pretty cliche to be #sweatingforthewedding, but I not only wanted to fit into my dress, I wanted to look and feel my absolute best in my dress. Everyone wants to workout for different reasons and it’s okay if your reason may seem superficial, as long as it’s important to YOU! It’s good to really clarify why it’s important to you otherwise the why may not seem motivating enough to make the change. Want to look good in that bikini? Think about what does it mean for you to look good in the bikini? How will you feel when you put on that bikini? How will you feel if you don’t workout? Dig deep and uncover why you want to achieve your goal. And if you’re a more visual person – post a picture of your why so that you constantly see it and can be reminded of your why.
2. Decide What Type of Workouts You Like. It’s important to know yourself and know what you like. It’s tempting to look at what other people are doing and think that you have to do the same thing. “Oh man, this person is doing yoga everyday and they love it, I should do that!” or “Wow, that person is training for a marathon, I’m going to sign up too!” It’s okay to see what other people are doing and to let that inspire you to start working out or try something new, but also remember that it’s okay if what someone else is doing is not for you. If you’re not sure what type of workouts you enjoy, try a few workouts before committing to a full program. And if you commit to something and then realize you don’t like it, it’s okay to switch it up, don’t be so hard on yourself!
3. Pick a Program that is Realistic. I’m not exactly a morning person, but I prefer to get my workouts done in the morning. I know a lot of people struggle with the idea of waking up early, especially to workout. The bed is just so much more appealing than going to do something that may seem a little painful. For me, I knew that I didn’t have a lot of time to dedicate to a workout. Hour long workouts are great, but you can still get a good sweat in 10 – 20 minutes. If the idea of waking up an hour earlier to workout sounds awful, or it just seems impossible to carve out an hour of your day, then start small. Find something that you can do in a short amount of time so that you know you can fit it in. Start with a small commitment and build up. You don’t have to start out with working out everyday of the week, you can start off doing something 2 – 3 times a week. You have to start somewhere. You also have to know yourself. For me, it’s easier to stick to something that is everyday to help build the habit. If I miss a day, it might turn into missing a few days, so for the days that my program had a rest day, I still did something like stretching, an ab workout or a longer walk with the dogs.
4. Create a Routine. When building new habits, it’s helpful if you are able to add the new habit onto an existing habit. Working out has actually helped me to create a new and improved morning routine. Before I would start my mornings by making some coffee and slowly figure out how to go about my day. Now my routine is to wake up, take the dogs for a walk, make my pre-workout drink, do the dishes and straighten up the house while while drinking my drink and then I’m ready to workout. For me, my trigger to start my workout routine is waking up. Think about when you want to workout – when you wake up, lunch break, after work, before bed, whatever – and think about what habits that you already have during those times that could trigger you to add your workout in.
5. Accountability. Find a friend or an online workout group to help you stay motivated and hold you accountable. I even consider my dogs my accountability buddies and cheerleaders because they love joining me for my workout and celebrating with me when it’s over. Even though you’re working out at home, you can still have others check in with you to make sure you completed the workout for the day. Being connected to other people completing their workouts helps to motivate me to complete mine. I also like to post when I’ve completed my workouts on my Instagram stories. I’m not sure how many people actually look at my stories or care, but I like to post everyday to hold myself accountable. When you make your goals public, it makes you want to stick to them. Subconsciously I think I have to workout and post about it, if I don’t post then people will know I’m not doing my workout!
6. Wear Cute Clothes. This is not a must but it helps. I love when I put on my cute workout leggings in the morning. For some reason seeing how I look in my workout clothes gets me excited to workout. I feel like a super cute bad ass that’s ready to sweat. Find some workout clothes that make you feel good and that you’re excited to put on. Pro-tip: Pick out your workout clothes the night before your workout. That way when you wake up in the morning you already have your outfit ready, so no excuses and it saves you some time.
7. Full Length Mirror. Having a full length mirror in my workout room has really helped my workouts. It’s really helpful to see yourself in the mirror and make sure that your form is correct. I also like seeing myself in the mirror to help encourage myself to keep going. I think about how strong I look doing the moves and how sexy I look and feel. I never really liked the mirrors at the gym because I was self-conscious about other people watching me, but at home it makes me feel really empowered and I love it! Along with your full length mirror, if possible, create a space that is dedicated for your workouts. Right now, my workout room is also my office and I love the energy of this room. Having a space that is dedicated to your workouts helps to get you into the mindset of having a good workout. And it’s perfectly fine if you just need to move your coffee table and do the workout in your living room, use what you’ve got!
8. Take Pictures. Sometimes it’s hard to realize you’re making progress, especially if it seems like the scale is barely moving. Seriously, the scale can be really frustrating sometimes, don’t look at it unless it’s actually helpful to you. When you take pictures every week you can compare the pictures and see how your body is changing each week. It may not always seem like a significant difference, but be proud of yourself for the small changes. It’s really encouraging when you compare pictures that are weeks a part so you can really see some changes.
9. Track Your Progress. One of the things that I really enjoyed about the Transform:20 program I completed was that each workout had these 1 minute “Transformers”. The goal was to complete as many of the exercise that you could in a minute and to do more each week. This helped to motivate me to push a little harder each week. When my numbers improved it was exciting to see how I was getting better. It gave me a sense of pride to see how working out was really changing my ability to do things. Even when the numbers didn’t improve I could reflect on if I had pushed harder during the rest of the workout or if I didn’t modify the exercise and if my form was better. When you complete a workout, pick something that you can keep track of to see your progress. Tracking your progress will help to motivate you to keep showing up and push yourself during your workout.
10. Celebrate! Be proud of every workout that you complete. Even when the workout was not your best workout, you still did something. You did something good for your body and you will never regret that. The more that you celebrate the fact that you did something, the better it will feel each time you go to workout and you will start to crave that feeling of accomplishment. Celebrate in whatever way feels good to you. It could be a cup of coffee after your workout, some chocolate later in the day, buying a new outfit when you reach a goal or my personal favorite – a dance party after my workout #dontjudge. A workout followed by a dance party is a great way to start the day!
What workouts are you currently doing? How do you stay motivated to workout at home? Let me know in the comments!
Be YOU. BeYOUtiful.